With this “troika” calling the shots, the right-wing government of Premier Antonis Samaras has slashed public spending to the point where Greece has now posted a “primary” budget surplus—that is, a surplus if debt repayment and interest are excluded—of 2.5 percent of GDP. The consequences for Greek workers have been horrific: unemployment at 27.5 percent, rising to 57 percent for young people; cuts in wages averaging 30 percent or more; the gutting of public services such as health care.

On the eve of the general strike, a free community clinic in Athens issued an appeal to the government against the cutoff of medication for uninsured patients with dangerous contagious diseases. The Metropolitan Community Clinic at Elliniko called the decision of the Health Ministry to cut off medicine for eight hepatitis B and C sufferers an “astonishingly irresponsible policy.” The clinic added, “Patients with serious and contagious diseases cannot be ignored.”

Only a week ago, the Greek parliament pushed through a new package of regressive measures, including another 4,000 public-sector job cuts, reductions in benefits for the unemployed, cuts in pensions, and the elimination of regulations to open up many types of small business, such as pharmacies, gas stations, bakeries and dairies, to ruinous competition by big corporations. The parliament also pledged to adopt a reform of the labor code by the end of 2014 that will drastically curb the right to strike.

The one-day general strike targeted most public transport, including ferries to Greece’s numerous islands, buses and trains, although the Athens subway was only sporadically affected. Schools were shut throughout the country, as were most courts and other government offices. Pharmacies, hospitals and clinics were closed except for medical emergencies.

Even while the workers were striking and marching, the minister of administrative reform, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, told Vima FM that it was time to end the guarantee of jobs for life for public-sector workers. The Greek constitution effectively forbids firing public workers except for disciplinary reasons. “Society is mature enough to discuss this,” Mitsotakis said.

Also Wednesday, the head of the agency charged with selling off government property to meet the demands of the “troika” for privatization said that a portfolio of as much as 500 million euros ($689 million) would be put on the auction block by the end of this year. Andreas Taprantzis, executive director of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund, said the agency had sold off 5 billion euros in property, including 1.8 billion euros in real estate, over the past 14 months, including ports, airports, land and other assets.

Three giant European banks—UBS, Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas—are overseeing the sell-off. “There has been a huge shift in sentiment and, after sniffing around for quite a while, investors are now anxious to dig up Greek opportunities,” Taprantzis told Bloomberg News. “Look how stocks have performed.” The Athens Stock Exchange has jumped 175 percent since reaching a 22-year low in June 2012.

The stark contrast between the mass suffering of the general population and the self-enrichment of the financial elite was underscored by the announcement that Greece would return to the international capital markets the day after the general strike. The Samaras government touted its ability to sell 2.5 billion euros in bonds at a projected 5 percent interest rate as proof that its policies were succeeding.

But even the New York Times, which backs the austerity policies, was compelled to admit that “the gulf between financial optimism and the desperation of millions of unemployed Greeks and tens of millions of jobless people elsewhere in the euro zone and the broader European Union is proving difficult to bridge.”

In reality, the bond sale is a maneuver by Samaras and his European backers to give a political boost to the right-wing government and enable it to get through the municipal and European Parliament elections set for May 25 without suffering a crushing political defeat.

A commentary in the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung Wednesday warned: “The government majority under the conservative Greek prime minister, Antonis Samaras, has fallen to 2 MPs. If his party loses at the local or Euro elections in May, this might lead to early parliamentary elections, which subsequently might lead to political instability and further crisis, which would also be a threat to the entire euro zone.”

The newspaper observed, “At this point, according to troika’s report, Greece will probably need a new loan of 16 to 17 billion euros until 2016, which will lead to a new bailout package. European politicians must be sincere and explain to the Greeks that their country will probably need a new bailout package. Angela Merkel’s visit to Samaras on April 11 might be a good opportunity for that.”

Any new bailout would be for the purpose of ensuring that Greece continues to repay its creditors: the funds will be recycled back to the European Central Bank and the major international banks and bondholders, while the austerity clampdown is tightened even further on the working people.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel flew to Athens Friday to bolster the prospects of the right-wing government of Antonis Samaras in the forthcoming European elections. Important regional and municipal elections are scheduled in Greece for the same week: here.

GREEK public sector workers staged a one-day national strike last Tuesday against the government’s workers’ ‘evaluation’ schemes which are designed to lead to mass sackings of at least ten per cent of the total workforce, a fact admitted by government officials: here.

16 thoughts on “Greek workers fight disastrous austerity policies”

I have great sympathy for the Greeks. Their Government got them into this mess and now penalises them to get out of it. Having a right wing government now won’t help as they’ll not have mercy when it comes to applying rules.
I’d like to see the return of King Constantine with an elected left wing government working on increasing tourism. If the palaces were opened then I’m sure many people would want to visit which could help the economy considerably.

The royal family in Greece, originally from Germany, imposed from outside in the nineteenth century, has never been popular with many Greeks. Eg, during World War I, the monarchy’s pro-German policies.

King Constantine II initially supported the 1967 colonels’ coup. He later had a conflict with the colonels’ dictatorship. But, after the fall of the colonels, in 1974 a referendum abolished the monarchy, establishing the Third Hellenic Republic.

An elected left-wing government in Greece now certainly would not like to bring back the monarchy.

Female cleaners suspended from their jobs in various regions of the country have been holding an ongoing protest outside the Greek Finance ministry building in Athens for the past few months. Their jobs have been suspended since September last year but on May 18 they will be permanently laid off.

They have appealed to the PanHellenic Federation of Employees in Public Financial Services to step up support for them. They made an appeal for wider support: “We urge citizens, unions, women’s organizations, young people, men of letters, arts and sciences, to join their voices with our own voice.”